Digest Archives Vol 1 Issue 55
Desmarais, John
From: owner-champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Sent: Saturday, November 28, 1998 2:04 PM
To: champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Subject: champ-l-digest V1 #55
champ-l-digest Saturday, November 28 1998 Volume 01 : Number 055
In this issue:
Re: Champions GM Screen
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: [Fuzion] Mixing Hero System characters into C:NM game
RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: disads on EC's
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: Champions GM Screen
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: Blank Sheets from Creation Workshop
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: Untie!
RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
Re: disads on EC's
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 09:18:24 -0800
From: Christopher Taylor <ctaylor@viser.net>
Subject: Re: Champions GM Screen
>Anyone know of a Champions 4th edition GM screen? I've never heard of one.
>
I made one, charts and stuff to print off and put on a backing, but they
did release one with useful tables back in the day when hero actually
printed product
- ----------------------------------------------------------
Sola Gracia Sola Scriptura Sola Fide
Soli Gloria Deo Solus Christus Corum Deo
- -----------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 09:25:06 -0800
From: Christopher Taylor <ctaylor@viser.net>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 12:22 AM 11/21/98 -0600, you wrote:
>I'm trying to assemble a list of things to check for when I'm constructing
>characters, and I was wondering what problems GMs typically encounter when
>their players design characters. The only one I can think of off the top of
>my head is missing the characteristic breakpoints, but I'm sure there are
>others, as well. Can anybody else give me some pointers for creating
>well-designed characetrs?
My most useful advise is to have everyone sit down together and work as a
team (so they create a team) rather than 6 bizarre individuals. Try to
stay in the basic archetypes for most characters (energy blaster, egoist,
brick, martial artist, etc) so that you have guys that fit roles in the
team.
From a GM's perspective, disallow anything you are uncomfortable with, they
will whine a bit, but its better than making the game unhappy for you and
thus everyone else cause you didnt want to hurt any feelings. If you allow
Power Pools, dont let them have any powers in a game that they dont have
prebuilt (like a list of powers to choose from) to prevent two things: 1,
granstanding and creating the perfect power to negate any other character's
specialty, and 2, bogging the game down by creating the power needed...
taking slow turns, not paying attention, etc.
All the powers that have stop signs are there for a reason, be very very
careful with them. Powers like high power telepathy, dimension travel vs
others, area effect autofires, and so forth can ruin a campaign, unless you
are willing to work around that (the guy that was able to AID people's
mental defense up was a problem for me until I realized it made certain
adventures possible that werent otherwise, and it was fun to have bad guy
mentalists panic when they couldnt affect everyone.... I mean after all not
ALL the bad guys have to be challenging, letting the PCs whup on some
people makes them feel good and seems believable)
Also, I have found it very useful to spend time after the characters are
done building them on Hero maker or another hero character creation
program, which will automatically check the math. Most players dont TRY to
rip off the game, but after 15 rebuilds sometimes your math gets a little odd.
On breakpoints: dont sweat them, its part of the game, let them use
breakpoints. Even the guys who created Hero suggest you use them.
- ----------------------------------------------------------
Sola Gracia Sola Scriptura Sola Fide
Soli Gloria Deo Solus Christus Corum Deo
- -----------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 11:25:14 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 12:22 AM 11/21/98 -0600, Guy Hoyle wrote:
>I'm trying to assemble a list of things to check for when I'm constructing
>characters, and I was wondering what problems GMs typically encounter when
>their players design characters. The only one I can think of off the top of
>my head is missing the characteristic breakpoints, but I'm sure there are
>others, as well. Can anybody else give me some pointers for creating
>well-designed characetrs?
A few things I can think of offhand:
Is the math done correctly?
Are non-standard Limitations (mostly varieties of Limited Power) at
GM-approved levels?
Is the character offensively and defensively viable? (Suggestion: use
something similar to Fuzion's "Rule of X" to determine this. Offensively,
use Damage Class plus OCV; defensively, use [total PD + total ED] / 6 plus
DCV. These figures should be within a range of about 3-4 for all characters.)
What combat-related abilities does the character have that his teammates
do not? Does he contribute ranged attacks, high STR, speed of movement,
special attacks?
What kind of team-related abilities does the character contribute? Some
examples include mass movement, healing, leadership skills, detective work,
technological expertise, and mystical expertise; encourage the players to
cover as many of these as possible, though with no more than one or two
characters per ability.
What does the character lack that encourages him to work with a team?
Does he have the proper psychological motivations to become a superhero as
well as to work with a team?
For the items in the preceding three paragraphs, keep a close tab on
things as the characters come in. If you're having the players all sit
down together for a character-creation session, have them discuss who will
play the brick, who will play the leader, who will play the detective, etc.
As a general word of advice, I'd recommend picking an overall theme for
your campaign, and encouraging the players to stick as close to it as they
feel comfortable with. For the Justifiers, I asked for a team of
"detective heroes," and got a pretty decent set; just decide what type of
adventures you want to run, and go with it.
I'm also finding that it helps a lot if the characters already have some
reason to associate with each other, preferably with the leader as the
nexus. For the Justifiers, most of the characters center around the lead
character, Cassandra Steele: Rattler has an office in the same building
and is her client as an attorney, Holo (a character not yet posted) is also
using her as his attorney, Cyberbug is her cyberneticist and built his suit
to accompany her in the field, and Bob Ramsey (who has unfortunately been
scratched) was a former client who has been paroled into her care. Zuunal
the alien was referred via Rattler by the US Marshall's Office (for whom
Rattler used to work), while Target X has been assigned as the official
liaison with the local police. All this has saved a lot of work in finding
reasons to bring these people together; only Zuunal's connection is really
at all contrived.
- ---
Bob's Original Hero Stuff Page! [Circle of HEROS member]
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/original.htm
Merry-Go-Round Webring -- wanna join?
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/merrhome.htm
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 14:55:11 -0500
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@mondello.toronto.fmco.com>
Subject: RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
I'm going to call this point into question.
To me, it's better to have everyone make exactly the characters they
want to. If you end up with two mentalists and no brick, no problem.
Allow the characters to define what shape the game will take. Generally,
players will make characters that are of a pure archtype or an archtype
combination [eg. martial artist/brick]. I think it's a mistake to force
your players to build a 'formula' group. It tends to lead to 'formula'
games.
Three cheers for groups of bizarre individuals.
BRI
] My most useful advise is to have everyone sit down together
] and work as a
] team (so they create a team) rather than 6 bizarre
] individuals. Try to
] stay in the basic archetypes for most characters (energy
] blaster, egoist,
] brick, martial artist, etc) so that you have guys that fit
] roles in the
] team.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 15:16:30 -0500 (EST)
From: opal@technologist.com
Subject: Re: [Fuzion] Mixing Hero System characters into C:NM game
Robert J. Edwards wrote:
> Opal> Assuming the characters are built 'efficiently' the
> > standard 100+150 seems to work fine...
>
> Interesting. I was guessing somewhere between 350 (total) and 450.
> Just how efficiently are we talking here? Lotsa Limits and
> Frameworks? (I know others that seem to agree with you, but that
> tight an efficientcy is is something I'm not good at. I don't
> understand how to build equivlant to C:NM on 100+150 HS points. (This
> might be getting off topic for this list))
HS gives you a lot of point breaks compared to Fuzion:
Any character that buys up his STR significantly and/or
has 1/2 or more limitations on some of his higher-piont
powers and/or has an EC and/or has levels, etc... is
saving a lot of points compared to a Fuzion character.
> > > 2: How do I handle mixed Skill rolls?
> >
> Opal> Just have the Fuzion characters make thier rolls there
> > way and the Hero players use theres. Just remember to
> > give the Heros penalties instead of increased target
> > numbers
>
> That will work, as near as I can tell, mechanically, but I fear
> confusion.
Do it right, and you should be the only one confuzed. ;)
> > > 3: What about Rule of X?
> <Opal>
> > Use it for the Fuzion characters. If you use 24, then
> > typical 12d/25DEF/60Apts limits for the Heros will
> > work fine
>
> Robert Edwards - That seems OK. I may go for a slightly higher power
> game. Any ideas how to adjust it?
Take whatever RoX you set,
Set the Hero DEF limit around there (maybe 5 pts or so higher)
Set a Hero DC limit at half that (ie 24 RoX = 12d max)
Set an aproximate Apt limit of 5x the DC limit
Peg the 'average' base CV for supers in the game at
about 1/3rd the RoX (ie 24 RoX = 8 CV)
One thing to take note of: The RoX calculations encourage
moderate AV and damage, and very extreme DV & defenses
(either increadigly high DV & virtually no defenses
or the opposite).
> > > 4: I don't want to use the speed chart - how do I handle this fairly
> > > for HS speedsters and such?
> >
> <Opal> Use the Speed Chart. If you can't bear to use it. If you can't give fast
> > characters an extra action once in 4 turns per point
> > of speed over 4. So a 8 SPD gets you two actions per
> > turn and a 5 gets you 2 actions on every 4th turn.
>
> <Robert> This kind of amounts to the same thing, but may be more
> flexible to administer.
Yeah, it does. One thing is to just tell all the
Hero characters to buy SPD 4, and leave it at that.
(A SPDster could take an 8 and act twice)
- ---
Opal
late of the Red October BBS
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Get your free email from AltaVista at http://altavista.iname.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 15:34:59 -0600 (CST)
From: gilberg@ou.edu
Subject: RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
>I'm going to call this point into question.
I was about to myself.
>To me, it's better to have everyone make exactly the characters they
>want to. If you end up with two mentalists and no brick, no problem.
>Allow the characters to define what shape the game will take. Generally,
>players will make characters that are of a pure archtype or an archtype
>combination [eg. martial artist/brick]. I think it's a mistake to force
>your players to build a 'formula' group. It tends to lead to 'formula'
>games.
Very much agreed. Though, in my best running Champs campaign, most
of the characters were my own designs being played by less experienced
players. They were pretty well balanced, but that was because I had aimed
them in that way. My two player-built characters were both hybrid types.
One was a minor mentalist/energy projector and the other was a mid-level
brick with a pair of autofire rivet guns. (Nast weapons, those.)
Most of the players were carry-overs from a Fantasy campaign I ran
using $ome other $ystem. :/ That one was quite interesting. They built
their own characters, with no real control from me, and we ended up very
heavy on fighters. Which is fine--they should be the most common type.
Another campaign of that other $ystem, which I only played in twice, had 13
players. 11 ran fighters.
-Tim Gilberg
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 18:47:04 -0600
From: "Guy Hoyle" <ghoyle1@airmail.net>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
When I started this thread, I had individual characters more in mind than
teams. Let me clarify a bit: What are the most common mistakes you as a GM
see in characters which are handed to you for approval? What are the easiest
ways to waste points in character creation?
Guy
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 14:39:49 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: disads on EC's
On Thu, 26 Nov 1998 Brian Wawrow wrote:
>G'Day List,
>
>So I'm building this brick and he's got an EC. The EC has predictable
>brick stuff like armour, density, absorption and so on.
>
>I want to spend a full phase turning on all the powers in the EC. So,
>the disad is: [full phase to activate -1/2]. Can I apply this disad to
>all the slots in the EC and still have them all turn on at once? Or can
>I only apply the disad to the EC slot itself.
>
>Opinions so far lean towards buying it only with the EC slot and none
>of the power slots. The reasoning for this is that if it's applied to
>each of the slots then it takes a full phase to activate each power
slot
>seperately.
>
>Is there anything I can put on the slots to reflect this all-or-nothing
>approach to the EC?
>
I share the opinion of others, that if you apply the Lim to the whole
EC, then you turn the whole EC on at once. This is the way I would do
it, especially for the character you describe. Of course, it's really a
question of special FX (as always). Since your character is a brick, I
assume that all of his EC powers (DR, Density Increase, Absorption, et
al.) are coming from one single set of FX (Strength of 10 Tigers, or
whatever). I suppose that you could break down each of his powers into
a separate special effect ("... and Kahlombou, the Tiger-Who-Seeks-Truth
gave him the power to see into mens' souls, and Kohjac, the
Tiger-Who-Punishes-Wrongdoing gave him sharp claws...). To model
something like this, I'd give the whole EC the Concentration & Extra
Time Lims, plus a Limited Power: "Can only Activate one Slot at a time."
Probably at -1/2 or -1, depending on whether or not he had any
appreciable other powers outside the EC (if most of his PD/ED and STR,
for example, are in the EC, then only being able to turn on one or the
other at the beginning of the fight would be much more of a hardship
than if he had 40 STR and PD/ED 20 outside of the EC and only had to
turn on the slots to get a little extra oomph!)
In short, to sum up my opinions and those I have seen that I agree with:
1) Yes, you can put the Extra time on the EC slot. (Opinion off of the
list with which I agree.)
2) If you do so, you MUST put it on the Power slots, as well. (Opinion
off of the list with which I agree.)
3) If you WANT to have the powers activate one at a time, you can do
so, but this is more restrictive than the "standard" interpretation and
is deserving of an additional limitation. (My opinion.)
4) Remember, the EC, though it is made up of several separate "powers",
is also a "power" itself, and can be explained by a single special
effect. Thus, you can have your brick concentrate on "turning on his
Super Power Man abilities" and they will all go on at once. They don't
need to be turned on individually unless you define it that way (or your
GM does). (My opinion.)
If your GM doesn't like your interpretation, my interpretation, or any
of the other interpretations that have shown up on this list, you're up
a creek. The GM's word is law, the GM is always right, if the GM is
wrong see rules 1 & 2, etc. If this is the case, I can't help you. Try
to resolve it with your GM.
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 18:23:21 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
> When I started this thread, I had individual characters more in mind than
> teams. Let me clarify a bit: What are the most common mistakes you as a GM
> see in characters which are handed to you for approval? What are the easiest
> ways to waste points in character creation?
Multiple attacks outside of a framework. Even with the "new" rule
allowing them to be used together, you still can enforce an AP limit
making an EC or Multipower a better deal.
Other things: Lots of one type of skill where a skill enhancer
could save some points.
Otherwise, there really isn't such a thing as "wasted" points.
They just add character to your characters.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 17:48:12 -0800
From: Christopher Taylor <ctaylor@viser.net>
Subject: RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
>] My most useful advise is to have everyone sit down together
>] and work as a team (so they create a team) rather than 6 bizarre
>] individuals. Try to stay in the basic archetypes for most characters
(energy
>] blaster, egoist, brick, martial artist, etc) so that you have guys that
fit
>] roles in the team.
>I'm going to call this point into question.
>
>To me, it's better to have everyone make exactly the characters they
>want to. If you end up with two mentalists and no brick, no problem.
>Allow the characters to define what shape the game will take. Generally,
>players will make characters that are of a pure archtype or an archtype
No question that bizarre characters are interesting, but when you are
trying to run a Champions game, you should try to stick to the genre...
that is, what comic books are like. If everyone wants to play giant robots
or centaurs, its not a comic book any more, and you have changed the genre.
My advise is less to have cookie cutter heroes and more to make sure you
dont have a bunch of totally off genre bizarre characters in the party.
Another problem this helps prevent is that you end up with 6 egoists.... or
6 bricks. This can be done, but its much harder for everyone to seem
different and much harder for the GM to come up with adventures. Further,
jaded and experienced players tend to create truly off the wall characters
(like the submitted character who could pull parts of his body apart and
rearrange them, or the 10 foot talking chicken).
By keeping your thoughts along the lines of the archetypes you tend to make
a team that works well together, lets people shine, and keeps the ideas
from being totally off genre. I didnt say to make NO mixed genre
characters, nor to have NO duplication, it was worded intentionally in
general terms (try to stay). This was done to help make teams that work
together, not to force people into certain roles.
>combination [eg. martial artist/brick]. I think it's a mistake to force
>your players to build a 'formula' group. It tends to lead to 'formula'
>games.
It can, but I suspect that formulaic games come from formulaic minds,
rather than the setting or the characters. Cop shows have been on TV and
movies for how long? But we can still find fresh ideas in them, because of
fresh minds and ideas.
- ----------------------------------------------------------
Sola Gracia Sola Scriptura Sola Fide
Soli Gloria Deo Solus Christus Corum Deo
- -----------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 21:46:57 EST
From: llwatts@juno.com (Leah L Watts)
Subject: Re: Champions GM Screen
>Anybody know where I can get one? Or is there a homemade one online
that I
>can download?
You could check some of the online game stores and see if they have one
in stock. They're fairly easy to make, though. Photocopy whatever
charts you think you would need, trim off any extra paper (if the chart
is less than 8 1/2 x 11), arrange on a piece of medium-weight cardboard
till it looks right and glue or tape. I'd advise creasing the cardboard
where you want the "hinges" before gluing anything. Or, use two or three
pieces of cardboard and "hinge" them together with tape or clear contact
paper.
Leah
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 21:24:44 -0500
From: geoff heald <gheald@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 06:23 PM 11/27/98 -0600, you wrote:
>
>> When I started this thread, I had individual characters more in mind than
>> teams. Let me clarify a bit: What are the most common mistakes you as a GM
>> see in characters which are handed to you for approval? What are the
easiest
>> ways to waste points in character creation?
>
> Multiple attacks outside of a framework. Even with the "new" rule
>allowing them to be used together, you still can enforce an AP limit
>making an EC or Multipower a better deal.
>
> Other things: Lots of one type of skill where a skill enhancer
>could save some points.
>
If the guy has lots of skills, it's usually cheaper to buy up base stats
then to improve all the skills.
> Otherwise, there really isn't such a thing as "wasted" points.
>They just add character to your characters.
>
>
Ego and Ego defense and stuff. My first character spent a bunch on that,
but the GM said Mind Control was so rare as to make it pointless to worry
about. Of course, your campaign may vary, not valid in Pelucidar, Outer
Mongolia, or The Nether Reaches.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
I'd always heard that as "dyslexics of the world, untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 23:19:09 -0500
From: "C. Badger" <wbandsis@westco.net>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 18:47 11/27/98 -0600, Guy Hoyle wrote:
>When I started this thread, I had individual characters more in mind than
>teams. Let me clarify a bit: What are the most common mistakes you as a GM
>see in characters which are handed to you for approval? What are the easiest
>ways to waste points in character creation?
Powers that aren't going to have much effect besides being a neat setup.....
Languages if the campaign is going to be for the most part in a set city
with hardly any travel. (Of course it also depends what languages are
represented by the racial break down of the city.) I saw one character with
60 pts in langauges of which 2/3 were not known by even 1% of the population
in the campaign city.
- -*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-
C. Badger
"My shoes are too tight, and I've forgotten how to dance."
Londo
Babylon 5
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 23:19:03 -0500
From: "C. Badger" <wbandsis@westco.net>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 00:22 11/21/98 -0600, Guy Hoyle wrote:
>I'm trying to assemble a list of things to check for when I'm constructing
>characters, and I was wondering what problems GMs typically encounter when
>their players design characters. The only one I can think of off the top of
>my head is missing the characteristic breakpoints, but I'm sure there are
>others, as well. Can anybody else give me some pointers for creating
>well-designed characetrs?
I doin't worry much on the break points. But things I watch for.
If they have Normal Characteristic maxima any stats over are paid at double
cost.
Check multiple times to make sure none of the stats and powers are over the
campaign limits set.
Make sure all of the limitations and disadvantages are such.
Make sure each character has a weakness so everyone isn't invulnerible.....
- -*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-.,,.-*"*-
C. Badger
"My shoes are too tight, and I've forgotten how to dance."
Londo
Babylon 5
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 22:48:12 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
> > Other things: Lots of one type of skill where a skill enhancer
> >could save some points.
> >
> If the guy has lots of skills, it's usually cheaper to buy up base stats
> then to improve all the skills.
Not really, for sciences, knowledges and languages, where the
enhancer is applicable. Agreed for other char-based skills.
> > Otherwise, there really isn't such a thing as "wasted" points.
> >They just add character to your characters.
>
> Ego and Ego defense and stuff. My first character spent a bunch on that,
> but the GM said Mind Control was so rare as to make it pointless to worry
> about. Of course, your campaign may vary, not valid in Pelucidar, Outer
> Mongolia, or The Nether Reaches.
Well, that's a campaign thing. In my campaign, it'd be pretty
useful.
> -Tim Gilberg
> -"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
>
> I'd always heard that as "dyslexics of the world, untie!"
I've heard it both ways, but, as an English Major (grad student,
actually), I prefer my version.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 22:45:24 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
> No question that bizarre characters are interesting, but when you are
> trying to run a Champions game, you should try to stick to the genre...
> that is, what comic books are like. If everyone wants to play giant robots
> or centaurs, its not a comic book any more, and you have changed the genre.
I can think of some pretty odd characters as parts of teams even
in the comics. And you won't see all odd in one way characters; some will
always go for the brick or the MA or the egoist.
> Another problem this helps prevent is that you end up with 6 egoists.... or
> 6 bricks. This can be done, but its much harder for everyone to seem
> different and much harder for the GM to come up with adventures. Further,
Nah. All MA would be quite interesting, though a different type
of campaign. All bricks would be an interesting campaign--one that would
be quite 4-color as well. All Energy Projectors isn't all that uncommon,
really. All egoists would be something a little different, but very
playable. All speedsters, hmmm...I may just come up with a NPC team of
all speedsters. I have one that is all Bricks.
> jaded and experienced players tend to create truly off the wall characters
> (like the submitted character who could pull parts of his body apart and
> rearrange them, or the 10 foot talking chicken).
[cue music]
...but he's not a man. He's a Chicken-Boo.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
> By keeping your thoughts along the lines of the archetypes you tend to make
> a team that works well together, lets people shine, and keeps the ideas
> from being totally off genre. I didnt say to make NO mixed genre
> characters, nor to have NO duplication, it was worded intentionally in
> general terms (try to stay). This was done to help make teams that work
> together, not to force people into certain roles.
And what, in 4-color, is truly off-genre?
Just off the top of my head, I can think of some odd ones:
A blue teleporting demon?
A greek god?
An alien with some great swords?
Twin siblings that can turn into different mundane objects?
A magical being from another dimension?
A blue-furred, quite strong, acrobatic scientist?
A blind MA?
The genre is incredibly broad. Broad enough to encompass just
about anything, including a 10 foot talking chicken.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 23:50:56 -0600
From: "Burleson's" <burleson@genesisnet.net>
Subject: Re: Blank Sheets from Creation Workshop
> Has anyone been able to print out blank character sheets through CW?
I'm having trouble saving characters I converted over from HeroMaker files.
I can convert them and even Print Preview them. I just can't save them once
I've conveted them.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 07:01:41 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 06:47 PM 11/27/98 -0600, Guy Hoyle wrote:
>When I started this thread, I had individual characters more in mind than
>teams. Let me clarify a bit: What are the most common mistakes you as a GM
>see in characters which are handed to you for approval? What are the easiest
>ways to waste points in character creation?
The easiest way to waste points in character creation is with a lot of
points spent in special defenses (like Mental Defense, Lack of Weakness,
Power Defense, etc.). These generally don't come into play often enough to
get more than the minimum, and even that only if the character concept
really calls for it.
Watch out for overly complex primary powers. The more frequently an
ability will be used in the game, the more straightforward its construction
should be. A Power with four Advantages and nine Limitations may be okay
as a rarely-used backup ability, but if it's the character's main attack or
main movement Power you'd better take a close look at it to make sure it
isn't going to bog down play.
The rest along these lines I've said before, but one part bears
repeating IMO: make sure all characters are viable but not overwhelming
both offensively and defensively.
- ---
Bob's Original Hero Stuff Page! [Circle of HEROS member]
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 05:56:56 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: Untie!
At 05:02 AM 11/28/98 GMT, <owner-champ-l@sysabend.org> wrote:
>Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 22:48:12 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
>From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
>cc: champ-l@sysabend.org
>Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
>> -"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
>>
>> I'd always heard that as "dyslexics of the world, untie!"
>
> I've heard it both ways, but, as an English Major (grad student,
>actually), I prefer my version.
It also works for aphasiacs (and, arguably, sado-masochists). :-]
- ---
Bob's Original Hero Stuff Page! [Circle of HEROS member]
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Merry-Go-Round Webring -- wanna join?
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 07:30:33 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: RE: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 02:55 PM 11/27/98 -0500, Brian Wawrow wrote:
>I'm going to call this point into question.
>
>To me, it's better to have everyone make exactly the characters they
>want to. If you end up with two mentalists and no brick, no problem.
>Allow the characters to define what shape the game will take. Generally,
>players will make characters that are of a pure archtype or an archtype
>combination [eg. martial artist/brick]. I think it's a mistake to force
>your players to build a 'formula' group. It tends to lead to 'formula'
>games.
Having two characters of the same type isn't all bad, as long as they
contrast each other in some way. Two kung fu masters in a single
four-color team probably wouldn't work (unless the players had the
imagination to give them some interesting interactions), but a kung fu
master and a savateur would. They could contrast in ways other than
martial arts disciplines, of course; for instance, one could use weapons
and the other go barehanded, one could be traditional-minded and the other
use modern technology, one could be up-front in approach and the other
stealthy, one could be a "pure" martial artist and the other merely using
martial arts to enhance some intrinsic ability, etc.
Similarly, two mentalists is fine if they're of two different types -- a
telepath and a telekinetic is the ideal example, but even a telepath and an
illusionist is good enough.
The same kind of approach applies to other archetypes as well.
- ---
Bob's Original Hero Stuff Page! [Circle of HEROS member]
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/original.htm
Merry-Go-Round Webring -- wanna join?
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/merrhome.htm
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 07:07:24 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: CHARACTER DESIGN CHECKLIST
At 11:19 PM 11/27/98 -0500, C. Badger wrote:
>At 18:47 11/27/98 -0600, Guy Hoyle wrote:
>>When I started this thread, I had individual characters more in mind than
>>teams. Let me clarify a bit: What are the most common mistakes you as a GM
>>see in characters which are handed to you for approval? What are the easiest
>>ways to waste points in character creation?
>
>Powers that aren't going to have much effect besides being a neat setup.....
>
>Languages if the campaign is going to be for the most part in a set city
>with hardly any travel. (Of course it also depends what languages are
>represented by the racial break down of the city.) I saw one character with
>60 pts in langauges of which 2/3 were not known by even 1% of the population
>in the campaign city.
While I don't disagree strongly with this (60 points in Languages is a
bit much even in a campaign with heavy traveling), a good GM will find ways
to bring the languages to the character. For instance, an ancient scroll
could be written in one of those obscure tongues that only this PC and a
few others know. (I worked this in once, as GM for a character whose
occupation was archaeologist and whose skills included Ancient Egyptian as
a language.)
- ---
Bob's Original Hero Stuff Page! [Circle of HEROS member]
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/original.htm
Merry-Go-Round Webring -- wanna join?
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 13:46:15 -0500 (EST)
From: tdj723@webtv.net (thomas deja)
Subject: Re: disads on EC's
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Brain, as far as I know, as long as you have enough endurance to
activate all the powers in the EC, you can do so. How to do it all or
nothing, however, is a question. My thoughts?
1) link them, with each 'weaker power' being linked to the next higher
power in front of it.
2) make the brick as a Multiform
3) 'limit' your pwoers (all EC powers must be turned on at once),
although I can't see it being much of a limitation.
"'Remember, Boo-Boo...we only have one weakness."
"What's that?"
"Bullets."
--Rat Phink and Boo-Boo, RAT PHINK A BOO BOO
____________________________________
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From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@mondello.toronto.fmco.com>
To: Champeens <champ-l@sysabend.org>
Subject: disads on EC's
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 11:57:36 -0500
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G'Day List,
So I'm building this brick and he's got an EC. The EC has predictable
brick stuff like armour, density, absorption and so on.
I want to spend a full phase turning on all the powers in the EC. So,
the disad is: [full phase to activate -1/2]. Can I apply this disad to
all the slots in the EC and still have them all turn on at once? Or can
I only apply the disad to the EC slot itself.
Opinions so far lean towards buying it only with the EC slot and none
of the power slots. The reasoning for this is that if it's applied to
each of the slots then it takes a full phase to activate each power slot
seperately.
Is there anything I can put on the slots to reflect this all-or-nothing
approach to the EC?
Thanks
BRI
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------------------------------
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